#97: CIVICS 101: The Executive Branch
Q&A #97: What are the implied constitutional powers of the President?
Our American Government
Our American Government is a small book published by the House of Representatives for citizens and those who seek a greater understanding of the American interpretation of democracy. It follows a question-and-answer format and covers a broad range of topics dealing with the three branches of our Government, the electoral process, and the role of political parties.
The Savvy Citizen is reproducing the 169 questions-and-answers through a series of posts called Civics 101. Each post will contain the Q&A as well as some additional commentary to add historical context, fun facts, or anything we believe will add to our collective understanding of these topics.
Think of it as your adult Civics class but without the test!
Let’s keep at it.
SECTION: White House and Executive Office of the President
Q&A #97: What are the implied constitutional powers of the President?
In addition to express powers, the President possesses powers that are not enumerated within the Constitution’s text. These implied powers have been, and continue to be, a subject of dispute and debate.
The task of attributing implied powers to the President is complicated by three factors:
the importance of the presidency in the political strategy of the Constitution;
the President’s extensive and vaguely defined authority in international relations; and
the fact that the President is often said to have inherent or residual powers of authority.
For example, although the Constitution does not grant to the President express power to remove administrators from their offices, as the chief executive, the President holds power over executive branch officers, unless such removal power is limited by public law. The President, however, does not have such implied authority over officers in independent establishments.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt removed a member of the Federal Trade Commission, an independent regulatory agency, and not part of the executive branch, the Supreme Court, in 1935, ruled the removal invalid.
Another implied constitutional power is derived from the President’s authority as Commander in Chief. Though the Congress has the explicit power to declare war, the President not only has the responsibility to protect the Nation from sudden attack, but also has initiated military activities abroad without a formal declaration of war. American Presidents have authorized military force abroad more than 225 times, but only on five occasions has Congress declared war:
The War of 1812,
The Mexican War,
The Spanish-American War,
World War I, and
World War II.
In recent years, most notably through the War Powers Resolution of 1973, Congress has sought to define more clearly the conditions under which Presidents unilaterally can authorize military action abroad.
My Thoughts
Implied powers is the subject of much debate, especially in the context of the “administrative state,” i.e. independent extra-constitutional federal agencies with little to no oversight. Much of the “deep state” emanates from the these agencies where career bureaucrats (not political appointees) call a lot of balls and strikes. Much of the litigation against the Trump administration involves his efforts to shrink the size of government by removing large portions of the administrative bureaucracy. At the end of the day, the lawsuits boil down to disagreements about the nature and scope of executive power, which is always interwined with political preferences.
Back next time with Q&A #98: It is constitutionally mandated that the President is Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy. What about the other military services?
Meanwhile, don’t forget that we’re organizing the post links on a single page available here.
xo,
Kelley for the Savvy Citizen Team
May 16, 2025